


safe in your arms

by celsidebottom



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, [banging pots and pans together] give! azu! a! hug!, canon-typical self hatred, references to kobold murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:07:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24168601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celsidebottom/pseuds/celsidebottom
Summary: in which azu has a good cry and a hug
Relationships: Azu & Celiquilliton "Cel" Sidebottom
Comments: 12
Kudos: 26





	safe in your arms

**Author's Note:**

> i just love azu so much, you guys

Azu sits by the wall with her head in her hands.

She is in her room in the inn, she knows. But she cannot shake the memory of the Shoin Institute. She cannot shake the memory of the kobolds, and swinging her axe, and she didn’t mean to swing so hard, she didn’t mean to kill them, she swears she didn’t mean to, she didn’t try hard enough, she wasn’t good enough, she couldn’t save them-

She hears a knock and jumps, trying (and failing) to compose herself. Cel slides the door open, halfway through a greeting before they notice her, hunched against the wall, furiously trying to wipe away tears.

“Oh, buddy...”

She sniffs, and tries her best at a smile. “Hello, Cel.”

Judging by their expression, she isn’t very successful. They come in and sit down next to her, unusually quiet, and they sit together in silence for a while before Cel speaks.

“Do you want a hug?”

Azu’s eyes well up again. She doesn’t trust herself to speak, so she just nods, fervently.

“Hey now,” they murmur, reaching an arm around to pull her closer to them. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” They start stroking her back, and that does it. She starts sobbing into their chest, and they move into a proper embrace, leaning into her and resting their head on her shoulder. Their hands are smooth and steady, and the hug is surprisingly warm and comforting, despite their bony frame. Surrounded by them, Azu feels safe, and her tears gradually run dry.

They disentangle themself so they can look her in the face. “Better?”

“Yes, thank you. You’re very good at this. Thank you.”

They grin. “No need to thank me! I’ve uh, I’ve had a lot of practice.”

They return to their sitting position beside her as they continue.

“You know, when you get to my age, you learn that a good hug can solve most problems. Not all problems, mind you, but most problems. There are some problems that are definitely best if, if you do not hug them at all, but a good hug can be useful in more situations than you might imagine.”

Listening to Cel ramble about which problems can, should, and definitely should not be solved by hugs, Azu feels a tightness in her chest loosen. She realises that she has a slight headache, no doubt caused by all the crying, and frowns.

Cel glances over. “You okay?”

Azu sighs. “Yeah.” She turns to them and does her best to put on a brave face. “I’ll be okay.”

Not entirely convinced, Cel nevertheless jumps to their feet and offers a well-intentioned hand to her. She takes it and does her best to get up without also pulling them down. She takes a deep breath, trying not to hit her head on the ceiling, and smiles once again.

“I’ll be okay.”


End file.
